


yellow

by dhe20



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Let Toph Say Fuck, Light Angst, Toph needs a hug, aang just trying to be a good boyfriend, i honestly just wanted to write toph being soft, i just think they're a really cute pair okay, i've been meaning to write taang for such a long time now, someone died but not a major character, toph sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:47:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29753580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dhe20/pseuds/dhe20
Summary: The first thing he noticed about her, those years ago in the arena, was how durable she was. She was an ancient verse whose story had withstood the passage of time. She wouldn’t have known it, but she glowed in a way nobody else could.The second thing he noticed about her, about two hours ago, was how all her walls come crashing down when she sleeps, but only if he’s the only one around. Her restless nature becomes calm as her rough surface smooths under the serenity of night. She’d hold his hand while sleeping, but deny it by wake.
Relationships: Aang/Toph Beifong
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	yellow

“Come in,” Toph had one foot on the ground, peaking out of the messed up sheets she was sprawled under.  
“I haven’t even knocked yet,” Aang pushed open the gold-embellished door, his voice was soft and still full of sleep, though he'd left the bed hours ago. She let a slight grin tug her lips and the palm of her foot brushed against the wooden floor as her only response. She would’ve guessed she was a sight to behold, her blankets flipped about, her hair down and disheveled, the late sun spilling through the open window into her childhood room.  
“You missed breakfast,” Aang stood unsure, somewhere between the now closed door and the bed.  
“That’s fine,” She’d turn away from him to really solidify her point, but she didn’t want to pull her foot off the ground, so she stared at the ceiling. Her eyes felt gritty behind her eyelids, and they were probably very puffy. She’d been awake for many hours now, any sleep she did get was shallow and not very restful, and by accident. 

“Come have some tea with me.” 

She could tell he had to force the sternness in his voice, and she would have believed it, had it not been for the soft crack at the end of the sentence. His heart was beating slow, but with worry. She wanted him to touch her. Regardless of how warm the sun was on her skin, she felt chilled. She knew he was warm. He was always warm. She wanted him to walk over, fix the sheets for her, crawl in, and hold her. She wanted to cry, but she wasn’t so sure there was anything left in her to leak out. She grunted, pulling a heavy arm up to comb her bangs back into her hair. “You won’t let me say no.”  
“You can,” He shifted his weight, as if he would take a step forward, then hesitated. He was sweet, but he was thinking wrong. The last thing she needed was more space. She pushed up to sit, keeping her foot grounded. She cracked her neck as much as she could both ways, using a fist on her chin for extra pressure. Aang stepped forward now, taking the movement as a sort of invitation. He brushed his knuckles on her cheek and she leaned into it. She hated how easily the affection took over her, but she no longer had the energy to play hard to get, or any other silly game she might have enjoyed initiating just a few months ago.  
“Sokka and Katara sent you a gift,” Aang sat on the bed behind her and rubbed her arm with a calloused thumb. He was so warm. She released the tension in her joints she hadn’t realized was being held, and Aang took the second invitation. They sat there a while, his chin on her shoulder and arms wrapped limply around her tired frame. She pulled her arms to cross over his, reciprocating the touch. He was so warm. She thought that maybe the feeling she got from his touch is what yellow looked like. The sun was yellow, she’d been told. It was enough of a comparison for her. “Toph?” 

She hummed in response, almost shivering at his sudden breath on her neck, “What’d you say?”  
“Sokka and Katara sent you something,” His thumb was rubbing in circles again, this time on her hip.  
“Oh, yeah.” She vaguely remembered him saying it before, “Sorry,” she quickly added.  
“It’s okay.” She could still hear the sympathy in his voice, it almost made her want to cry again. She hated feeling like she was someone worth pitying.  
“What’d I get?”  
“I’d never open someone else’s gifts,” He spoke with the same diction he used when he was fooling someone into another one of his pranks. She sighed, and he hugged her tightly for a brief moment before letting go completely to stand up. He held a hand out for her to grab.  
“That’s a terrible ploy.” She sat, still staring with dead eyes somewhere near the foot of her bed.  
“Yeah, a cheap move, too. I really hope she falls for it.” She could hear his stupid smile. 

She chuffed, and gave a defeated sigh, before grabbing his hand and letting him pull her out of the bed.  
“Thank you, My Lady,” He said, giving her knuckles a firm kiss. “Yeah, yeah,” She replied, waving away any trace of her sullen night that was hanging in the air.  
The room fell in a comfortable silence again, and she found a dress somewhere on the ground, the same one she’d worn the day before. She still never felt right wearing anything other than her usual gear, but this room was full of her old dresses, some still fit her, and they were the easiest things to wear right now. She pulled it over her head and let Aang fasten up the ties in the back, he even found a shawl for her and draped it over her shoulders. He pulled her hair out from under it and gathered it up out of her face, tying it tight. She tugged the shawl closer around her as he did it, eyes closed and functionally drowning in his kindness. He surprised her with a quick peck on the corner of her mouth, and she instinctively kissed back, though too late. 

She sat down across from Aang at a small table, both seated on pillows she was told were green. He was leaning over to pour the steaming tea into her cup. He had been staying with her in her childhood home for over two months now, and was quite used to the layout of the estate. She outwardly declared multiple times she was glad she didn’t have to babysit him anymore, but inwardly was annoyed that it was just one less thing she was needed for. He settled back down after pouring his own.  
“Here,” He slid a small package across to her. She grinned, “Thanks.”  
She opened it greedily. She loved presents, especially from her old friends. There was a thin wrapping over it, but underneath was a small, smooth box. She pulled the lid off the top and pulled out a small card, she assumed it was a note. She brushed her thumb over it, feeling the indents. She tried to decipher, but it’d been a while since her last lesson with Katara, and the handwriting was awful. She huffed, “Sokka wrote this.”  
She handed the card to Aang, who chuckled, “It says, ‘We're visiting Gran-Gran and Gramp-Gramp in the Northern Water Tribe, and Gran showed us a little shop full of jewelry, all carved by hand. We thought you might like this one. With love, Sokka and Katara...’ What’d you get?” He looked up excitedly, putting the card down. Toph was already digging into the second half of the gift. She pulled out a slightly bent tube of some sort, with a wide slit down the concave side, she honestly wasn’t sure if it was jewelry at all. She looked up at Aang with a quirked brow. He took it from her before gasping an, “Oh!” He stood up and walked around the table before settling down beside her, “It’s an earring.”  
“Just one?” She shifted in her seat, “...I don’t even have my ears pierced.”  
“You don’t need to for this one,” He scooted closer, “I can put it on if you’d like.”  
“Go ahead, enlighten me,” She turned her cheek up towards him, he was much taller than her. It was a gradual change, but a grand one. He grabbed her ear gently, sliding the cuff over the side of her ear. He pulled away and she brought a hand up to analyze it, adjusting the placement just slightly. It felt like the same sort of stone Katara’s necklace was made from, and it had a detailed carving of a vine with few leaves and flower buds up the front.  
“I bet I look really cool now,” She puffed out her chest and brought her arms up to flex her biceps.  
“Yeah, because you looked like total shit before,” He surprised her with another kiss. She really should’ve been used to these by now. 

The wind chilled her to her bones. She wasn’t sure what day it was anymore, she wasn’t sure if she cared. Her sweater was thick, the long dress underneath it slapping at her calves in the breeze. The only reason she knew it was day time at all was the sun rays heating the dark hair on the very top of her head, and the distant sound of people bustling in the streets like they do at lunch hour. She reached forward to touch the oversized marble stone. She knew in a few years, the soft marble would chip under the weather, and it would be harder to read. Her mother knew that, too, but she never minded. She reached a hand forward to feel at the lettering, she’d felt over it many times. It was still fresh. She was shocked when the crunching of footsteps on ground alerted her to someone’s arrival before she could sense it. She was just too lost in thought to notice, she bargained with herself.  
“You’re father said you would be out here.”  
She felt so heavy, like the atmosphere was pushing down on her shoulders. He touched her shoulder in an offering of comfort, she appreciated it.  
“We weren’t even that close,” Her eyes were hurting, “I mean... I thought we weren’t... Why does it hurt this bad?”  
“It gets easier. I promise." He took slight steps closer to her side. “How did you get passed it?”  
“Honestly...” He slid his hand to wrap his arm around her shoulders, “I never did. I don’t think anyone does... It just gets easier.” She nodded, hating his answer but knowing he was right. She felt her eyes sting again, she started rubbing at them to make it go away. Aang pulled her into his chest, cupping her head with his other hand and pressing a kiss to top of her head. She looked vacantly towards the stone, and, reluctantly, continued to cry.

**Author's Note:**

> in my head, toph gets a letter that her mother has fallen very ill, and she and her long time boyfriend aang stay with her parents for over a month to be with her, and help her get better, but she passes anyway. i just didnt write in any of that.  
> this takes place a week or so after her death.  
> also, if you haven't already, please look into the face stealer theory, and how aang and toph are actually soul bound and such. it's really interesting and just so lovely.


End file.
